Corrugated containers or displays are made from pieces of flat paperboard stock material that are die cut into shapes that define various panels. The shapes are folded along predefined lines between the panels with at least one overlapping strip or panel that is glued, taped or otherwise affixed to another panel to form an enclosed boundary. The panels are folded and/or glued into place to become the walls of the container. The containers or displays are traditionally provided to product manufacturers and/or retailers in a collapsed or knock-down configuration for storage, handling and shipping. The manufacturer and/or retailers open the knockdown containers or displays and fold appropriately to utilize the assembled container for packing and displaying products therein.
The knockdown containers or displays are typically manufactured by feeding flat die cut sheets through a fold-and-glue machine. The fold-and-glue machine applies adhesive and folds over select panels so that the panels are in the knockdown configuration. One common knockdown container and/or display is a “hutch” style display. A “hutch” is typically used to display products to consumers at a retail point-of-sale location. It is desirable to minimize the time and effort necessary for retailers to assemble a container from its knockdown configuration. Thus, such container suppliers typically attempt to design containers that do not require separate discrete parts such as reinforcing inserts or dividers. However, in circumstances in which heavy products are being displayed in a “hutch” display, it is often necessary to utilize separate metal poles and/or corrugated support dividers to handle the load. This adds considerably to the assembly labor as well as material costs for the container.
An example of such a corrugated hutch display is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,703,864 (the '864 Patent”), the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. However, in the '864 Patent does not provide reinforcement features and is not configured to handle heavy loads. Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide a “hutch” style display that can accommodate heavier product loads without requiring additional support members (such as metal poles or corrugated support dividers).